Florida governor: Schools must open so kids can have football season

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said on Tuesday that fears about children returning to school during the COVID-19 pandemic are “unfounded.”

Despite the recent record-setting increases in the number of coronavirus infections in his state, DeSantis has joined the Trump administration in pushing for schools to reopen for the new school year.

Making his case for reopening the schools, DeSantis said, “What about having football season?” and said many children need sports to fulfill “those dreams and all those hopes.”

Florida set a new record number of 132 COVID-19 deaths in one day on Tuesday.

From a July 14 briefing:

RON DeSANTIS:  What my view is, is we should all want kids back in school, okay? That should be the goal. Part of it is because of the low risk, the low transmission. You know, it’s interesting, Sweden never really closed down, they had schools in, and they said that it didn’t contribute at all to the community spread. Because they clearly had community spread going on.

 

So, I think, let’s just understand, at the same time, parents have a right to opt for virtual. I just think it’s a — anxious time, you know there’s a lot of fear out there. Like, look, I think some of this fear is unfounded in terms of the facts, particularly when it relates to the risk to school-age kids. I’ve tried to communicate that.

 

[…]

 

But I think that the damage – we just have to be honest about – everyone focuses on what we’re doing with the virus. Very important. But we also have to focus on what are the – what’s the fallout from some of the actions that could be taken?

 

So, if you say, “No chance of being in person,” what is that going to do to academic development, social development? What’s that going to do just in terms of kids – you know, the school system is one of the places where a child that’s being abused will go for refuge, and then they end up, action can be taken.

 

The teachers that are mentors, the coaches – what about having football season? Things like that. We’ve got a lot of young kids who, this is their ticket to be able to go to college through athletics. What happens to all those dreams, and all those hopes, and all those aspirations?

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.